Denerim: Ground Zero
by gamer072196
Summary: We all know what happened on the top of Fort Drakon. The Warden fought the archdemon and won. But what about the men about women fighting in the city itself? One-shot.


Victory at all costs. That was what they had been told. That is what they were all ready for. Storming Denerim and facing the horde would be no easy task, but with the entire kingdom focused on a common purpose, they had a chance. A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

He cut down another of the taller darkspawn, this one wielding twin axes. The battle so far had been taxing, losses on both sides mounting. The darkspawn out-numbered them and had the advantage of the archdemon, but this was Denerim, capital of Fereldan. The vast majority of the men and women here would gladly die to see the city freed and the country saved. Many had given their lives, but this was not the time to mourn. There was fighting to be done.

Two more of the beasts slain, another charging at him. He ducked a swing and followed up with a thrust into the creature's gut, soon followed up by a swing through its neck.

Despite the recent turmoil throughout the kingdom, everyone joined together to fight the darkspawn horde, following the Warden and King Alistair into the fray. Dwarves, elves, even mages had vowed to fight together to end the Blight. The dwarves had the most experience fighting the creatures, the elves were expert archers, better than any human by far, and the mages could call on the Fade itself to aid in the fight. One had saved his life already. He would remind himself to thank her after the battle if they both survived.

A cluster of charging darkspawn erupted in flame and several others were electrocuted. He watched as an ogre was brought down. He dodged an arrow and cut through three more of the short darkspawn, one of which was wielding a staff. He turned to block a blow with his shield before thrusting into another creature's chest.

He saw Eamon, the arl of Redcliffe, cleave through several darkspawn with his greatsword. Despite the man's age, he wielding the blade expertly. He fought back-to-back with Bann Teagan, his brother, as they continued to slay beast after beast.

He cut down several more darkspawn, blocking a blow from another with his shield and decapitating it. He was knocked to the ground and saw another one of the creatures standing over him, readying a killing blow. Before it could, a blade emerged from its chest and soon retracted, the darkspawn slumping to the ground. Behind the darkspawn was another soldier, one he recognized from the earlier charge into the city. He quickly stood up and thanked the man before returning his focus to the battle.

The battle had been going on for hours. Many of them were tiring, but they continued to fight. A moment's rest would only result in death. He had seen a group of elves arrive from the direction of the alienage and joining the fight, but it didn't seem like they were the same elves as those who had been in the charge. He could tell because none of them wore armor, only regular clothing. They stayed on the edge of the battle as best they could, firing arrows into any beast in sight.

He saw several darkspawn flee towards the direction of Fort Drakon, but he had no idea why. _Maybe they are needed elsewhere?_ he asked himself. That had been over an hour ago though, and they had not returned. Reinforcements had arrived from the other direction, however, much to the dismay of the army's soldiers. It was a losing battle now, and everyone knew it. Despite this, no one had fled, no one had backed down. Everyone just kept fighting.

He blocked a swing from one darkspawn and cut down another before decapitating the first. He barely dodged a charging ogre, though several others weren't so lucky. He turned his attention towards the enormous beast, charging at it. He sliced at its ankles, trying to bring it to its knees. His blade made contact, but ending up becoming lodged in the ogre's hide.

He noticed two or three others attacking from head-on, barely avoiding the large fists swinging at them. He yanked his blade out of the beast's leg, slicing again and severing whatever tendons were located there. The creature fell to a knee and he rounded it, slicing across its chest several times. The ogre roared and grabbed him with its large and powerful hand, lifting him high off the ground. He reversed his grip on his sword and brought it down into the beast's hand, burying it deep into its flesh.

Before he could pull his blade out, he was dropped to the ground. He landed on the ground hard, pain erupting from his entire lower leg. He clutched at the possibly broken limb and rolled to the side in pain before hearing the ogre fall to the ground.

He forced himself to look up and saw as several soldiers and mages were cut down by darkspawn, all receiving fatal wounds.

He then heard a loud rumbling sound, the ground starting to shake somewhat. He turned his head towards where Fort Drakon was, seeing a bright beam of light going straight into the sky. He heard the fighting stop almost entirely, likely because everyone was focused on the sudden turn of events.

The beam lasted for almost a minute before being followed by an explosion at its base located at the top of the fort. Several seconds later he heard the rumbling of footsteps rushing. He looked around to that the darkspawn were… fleeing. The darkspawn were retreating. They had won!

Everyone around him was cheering. The only reason he wasn't cheering with them was because of the pain in his leg, making most actions difficult. He was simply relieved that battle was now over. After all, it was difficult enough fighting off those walking corpses at Redcliffe. He should know, he barely survived the ordeal long enough for the Warden to save to village.


End file.
